3^
Lied Center elevator 1
j?
increases accessibility
By Kelly Scott
Staff Reporter
Disabled patrons of the
Lied Center for Performing
Arts have a new option when
deciding how to get to the con
course level - they can take the
elevator.
The elevator is the newest
improvement made to accom
modate disabled people at the
University of Nebraska
Lincoln.
It replaced a hydraulic lift
that had been in place since
1989, when the Lied Center
opened, said Charles Bethea,
executive director of the Lied
Center. The hydraulic lift was
designed to allow patrons in
wheelchairs access to wheel
chair seating space on the con
course level.
Unfortunately, the lift did
n’t work well.
Bethea said the lift was too
small, too slow and too prone
to breakdowns.
The $100,000 elevator that
carries patrons a necessary 6 Vi
feet was completed at the
beginnihg of this year’s season
at the Lied Center and has been
working well since, he said.
“It increases accessibility
for all patrons,” Bethea said.
Accessibility is a major
issue for the Lied Center. The
staff is examining the Lied
Center’s facilities for user
friendliness and accessibility,
Bethea said.
Before the installation of
the new elevator, all patrons in
wheelchairs had to use the
entrance of the Johnny Carson
Theater to get to the hydraulic
lift . Now, all patrons can use
the front door, giving them the
chance to move around easily
during intermissions and to get
to receptions before and after
performances on other levels,
Bethea said.
“The best thing about the
elevator is that we don’t have to
turn any patrons away from the
front of the Lied,” said Carol
Ide, Lied Center house manag
er and usher coordinator.
The elevator also has
helped the more than 340 core
usher volunteers at the Lied
Center and the usual 75 work
ing during performances, Ide
said.- - •' - r"££s.-'
I** Without the elevator, 4he
said, an usher would have to
accompany patrons Using the
hydraulic lift in the cramped
spate. Now, patrons can easily
us# the elevator without an
usher, although ushers are still
present near the elevator in
case'extra help is needed.
Bethea said the elevator was
especially helpful for the
Lied?s large crowds, especially
for the sold-out showings of
“Les Miserables” in
September.
“A performing arts center
like the Lied is about creativity
afid connecting the public. The
elevator helps us do that,”
Bethea said.
> ••
_v_L____:_:_1 - _
,3J
PROGRAM from page 1
Center - are responsible for making
sure disabled students still can pur
sue their college goals on a level
playing field, said Marie Ward,
director of Services for Students
with Disabilities.
Recently, UNL made new
improvements to campus buildings
to make them more accessible. The
improvements include a new eleva
tor in the Lied Center for Performing
Arts, changes in restrooms and
design in the Nebraska Union and
the addition of a ramp in the new
Undergraduate Observatory on top
of the Stadium Drive Parking
Garage.
A computer lab in Mable Lee
Hall, equipped with special software
to meet the needs of disabled stu
dents, also has been added.
Continuing renovations will be
prioritized by safety concerns, Horn
said. Focus will turn to East Campus
buildings and the Bob Devaney
Sports Center, which has poor acces
sibility in its restrooms and seating.
By January, Horn said, a Web site
for Services for Students_:with
Disabilities and the Accommodation
Resource Center will be in place.
And by March a searchable database,
Accommodation Solutions On-line,
will be operating so students can
look up specific disability situations.
This will be the first of its kihdjn a
university anywhere in the country.
Technological improvements to
be made next semester include
upgrading the multimedia class
rooms to include software designed
specifically for students with various
disabilities and continued acquisi
tion of equipment.
UNL students now use programs
that are voice-activated, specially
designed keyboards that accommo
date disabilities like carpal tunnel
^syndrome or compiler mice that are
controlled by footinstead of by
hand.
“It is a moving field. Every week
there is something new,” Horn said.
Horn said she was working to
create written policies on class sub
stitutions and waivers for individual
colleges on campus. By January,
Horn expects to have a complete
written policy for the College of Arts
and Sciences.
Ward said she was planning to
meet with UNL officials about the
new admissions standards, which
have affected the admission of stu
dents with disabilities.
The number of disabled students
has increased qt UNL since 1985
when about 25 students used ser
vices. But because of this year’s new
admission standards, that number
has decreased since a 1994 peak,
when 400 students received assis
tance, Horn said.
There wasn’t enough time to
inform high schools about the new
standards because university imple
mented the new requirements so
quickly, she said.
For instance, if students couldn’t
take a certain class in high school
because of their disabilities, but the
new admissions standards required
that class, the students may be
denied admission. Normally in those
cases, the university will grant a spe
cial waiver so those students still can
enroll at UNL.
“I think we need to make sure
high school students are aware and
better prepared and we need to make
sure there is an appeals process for
students with disabilities,” said
Horn.
Alison Frazier, a senior interna
tional relations major, said although
conditions at UNL have improved
and arelimproving, UNL still has a
long wajHo gcr.
- “Things are better than they were
my freshman year. Then, no one
could tiki me where the accessible
restrooils were " Frazier, who uses a
...1_
w uvviwuau oaiu.
But some buildings like Nelle
Cochrane Woods and the Military
andJMaval Science Building are inac
cessible for some without assistance,
Frazier said.
“The major problem I have with
improvements at UNL is that the
main entrance of the newjymion is
not accessible,” Frazier said.-j*
“I don’t understand why they
couldn’t'make.a main entrapcethat is
easily ggcefsSible. It doesglt seem
like a bigdeal b»tit is,” Frazier, said.
. UNlystarted ^improving accessi
tors, anponditioning and abtomatic
doors td Selleck Residence Hall,
Horn sajp.
In 1988, UNL developed a coop
erating program with Saint
Elizabeth’s Heartland Health Care
Center to ensure students access to
personal attendants if needed, Horn
said. Before this program, individual
students were responsible for
employing personal care.
With the help of Chancellor
Graham Spanier in 1992, a systemat
ic renovation to increase accessibili
ty in campus buildings began, Horn
said. Automatic doors were added to
all major campus buildings and
restrooms were made handicapped
W I
accessible.
In 1995, Horn said, she accom
plished her biggest feat in terms of j
renovations when a ramp was added
to historic Richards Hall. Curb cuts,
or rajnps, we$i also added to campus !
sidewalksyttiid seating was improved !
iff:^T.ove!l4fttfary auditorium.
iS&vagiHjps sfei Students with
Disabgities and the Accommodation
Resource Center are continually
improving to give UNL students who
have disabilities equal access, which
is required by the 1990 Americans
with Disabilities Act.
The Accommodation Resource
Center, established in May 1995,
works with the Services for Students
with Disabilities, which was estab
lished 13 years ago. Horn said the
Accommodation Resource Center
was responsible for instituting the
accommodations determined by
Services for Students with
Disabilities.Services for Students
with Disabilities is the personal con
tact for students on campus.
“We are here to help the students
be more independent rather than
dependent so that the students can be
advocates for themselves,” Ward
said.
the center provides:
■ Academic services. Students
can get one of die more than 400 vol
unteers to take notes for them, receive
special test accommodations, help
registering on NRoll and get inter
preters to go to class with them.
■ Technological assistance.
Computers with adaptive equipment
and programs which can provide
audio sound or closed caption options
are available to students.
■ Advocacy. Students can voice
concerns and discuss university poli
cies and procedures.
■ Housing. Housing accommo
dations can include flashing fire
alarms, electronic doors, first floor
rooms and single rooih accorrtrfr6da
tions.
■ Campus recreation. Students
can use exercise equipment designed
to improve upper body strength or
play on the wheelchair basketball
club team.
■ Parking services. Handicapped
parking is moved around to accom
modate the areas where it is most
needed depending on class schedules.
Adding on to the increased
improvements and range of services
is always a focal point for both cen
ters, but Ward said she thinks UNL is
doing a good job of accommodating
students with disabilities.
“If you take a look at this univer
sity in comparison to other universi
ties, we are way ahead of the game.”
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Journalists prepare to do jobs ,
MEDIA from page 1
nesses should prepare themselves men
tally “You can’t compare it to any
thing.”
He has spent time on the World
Wide Web, he said, looking at the pros
and cons of the death penalty. He has
also been reading a book on die proto
col of executions. ?
“Just tilings to gear my thinking to
this being an official kind of function,”
he said. “Emotionally, I don’t think I
would find it very acceptable.”
Tysver said she started thinking she
would be selected as a witness about
six months ago, but said she really had
n’t done anything to get ready for today.
“I don’t know if you can prepare
yourself for something like this,” she
said.
She said she had deliberately tried
not to talk to many people in recent
days about die execution.
“It’s not something I want to talk
about too much,” she said.
But she said the walk-through the
witnesses went through a few days ago
was a big help in getting her prepared.
a —- 1
'/ did think about declining it. ... But I
decided to do it based on the idea that it
was part of my job.”
Bill Hord
Omaha World-Herald Lincoln bureau chief
Unlike the Harold Otey execution
in 1994 and the John Joubert execution
in 1996, none of today’s media witness
es have ever seen an execution.
Hord said he did have thoughts
about saying no to the offer and passing
the witness role on to another World
Herald reporter.
“I did think about declining it,” he
said. “And the closer it gets, die more I
wish I would have. But I decided to do
it based on the idea that it was part of
my job.”
Hord said his family had been a
help in the week leading up to today’s
scheduled execution.
“They’ve been very calm about it,”
he said of his five children and wife.
“They’re interested but not in a way
that is intrusive.”
His family, he said, realizes it is part
ofhisjob.
A job that requires him to be inside
a room watching the state’s ultimate
justice take place.
Both Hord and Tsyver said the
three hours or so hours they will spend t
in the prison today may be the most dif
ficult story assignments of their
careers.
“It very likely stands to be the most
difficult and most awkward assign
ment I’ve had,” Hord said.